HHS looks to rebound; North hopes to keep winning

Friday

Aug 24, 2007 at 12:01 AM

Two Henderson County rivals meet tonight at Dietz Field in a non-conference game.

By Jeremy Trantham Times-News Staff Writer

North Henderson's season opener couldn't have gone any better. Hendersonville's couldn't have gone any worse. Now traveling in opposite directions, the two Henderson County rivals meet tonight at Dietz Field in a non-conference game.

Last Friday, the Knights (1-0) rolled into Madison and came away with a 42-0 victory. They racked up 395 rushing yards on 50 carries (7.9 average) and 459 total yards while committing just one turnover.

Meanwhile, Hendersonville turned the ball over six times in a 30-6 loss at Smoky Mountain. In one 3:43 span to close the first half, Smoky Mountain scored three touchdowns to take a 28-0 lead.

"It was just a snowball effect," said Hendersonville coach B.J. Laughter. "In our scrimmages we took good care of the ball and we get into a game and it's Murphy's Law."

Whatever could go wrong, did go wrong for the Bearcats. But all hope is not lost. When they held on to the ball, Hendersonville averaged a healthy 5.8 yards per carry while holding the Mustangs' wishbone offense to just 3.3 yards per carry.

"We're better than that score showed. We weren't being dominated," Laughter said. "We stopped them on the ground pretty good. We just broke down on some coverages that let them complete some long passes when we had them backed up."

Smoky completed 6-of-10 passes for 124 yards last Friday. On tape, North showed Laughter something it hasn't had much of lately.

"North Henderson is very athletic this year," he said. "They're fast, they can throw the ball and they're tough running their power stuff. They are much improved."

The Knights hurt Madison in a variety of ways. Caleb Moore, Chris VanLandingham and Dequane Landrum all rushed for at least 72 yards. Canaan Cox posted 88 combined yards rushing and receiving and scored three touchdowns.

That type of balance means Hendersonville can't finish minus-4 in the turnover battle for the second week in a row and expect to stay in the game.

"If you look at any great team the turnover ratio is lopsided on the positive side," Laughter said. "We just need to take advantage of our opportunities, play solid defense and fly to the ball.